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Baruch 6
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Chapter 6
V.
THE LETTER OF JEREMIAH
A copy of the letter which Jeremiah sent to those about to be led captive to Babylon by the king of the Babylonians, to inform them of the instructions which God had given him.
1
Because of the sins you have committed before God you are to be deported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of the Babylonians.
2
Once you have reached Babylon you will stay there for many years, as long as seven generations; after which I shall bring you home in peace.
3
Now in Babylon you will see gods made of silver, of gold, of wood, being carried shoulder-high, and filling the pagans with fear.
4
Be on your guard. Do not imitate the foreigners, do not have any fear of their gods
5
as you watch their worshippers flocking before and behind them. Instead, say in your hearts, ‘Master, it is you that we have to worship’.
6
For my angel is with you; your lives will be in his care.
7
Plated with gold and silver, their tongues polished smooth by a craftsman, they are counterfeit and have no power to speak.
8
As though for a girl fond of finery, these pagans take gold and make crowns for the heads of their gods.
9
Sometimes, the priests actually filch gold and silver from their gods to spend themselves, even using it on presents for the temple prostitutes.
10
They dress up these gods of silver, gold and wood, in clothes, like human beings, although they cannot protect themselves either from tarnish or woodworm,
11
in spite of the purple cloaks they drape them in. Their faces even have to be dusted, owing to the dust of the temple which settles thick on them.
12
One holds a sceptre like the governor of a province, yet is powerless to put anyone who offends him to death;
13
another holds sword and axe in his right hand, yet is powerless to defend himself against war or thieves.
14
From this it is evident that they are not gods; do not be afraid of them.
15
Just as a pot in common use becomes useless once it is broken, so are these gods enshrined inside their temples.
16
Their eyes are full of dust raised by the feet of those who enter.
17
Just as the doors are locked on all sides on the man who has offended the king and is under sentence of death, so the priests secure the temples of these gods with gates and bolts and bars for fear of burglary.
18
They light more lamps than for themselves, and the gods cannot see one of them.
19
They are like one of the temple beams, gnawed away from within, so they say, by termites which creep out of the ground and eat them, and their fine clothes too. They are unaware
20
that their faces are blackened by the smoke that rises from the temple.
21
Bats, swallows, birds of every kind flutter over their bodies and heads, and cats prowl there.
22
From all this you can see for yourselves that they are not gods: do not be afraid of them.
23
The gold with which they are plated is fine enough to look at, but if someone does not rub off the tarnish, these gods will not do much shining on their own. They felt nothing while they were being cast.
24
However much was paid for them, there is still no breath of life in them.
25
Being unable to walk, they have to be carried on men’s shoulders, which shows how futile they are. It is humiliating for their worshippers, too, who have to stand them up again if they fall over.
26
Once they have been stood up, they cannot move on their own; if they tilt askew, they cannot right themselves; offerings made to them might as well be made to dead men.
27
Whatever is sacrificed to them, the priests re-sell and pocket the profit; while their wives salt down part of it, but give nothing to the poor or to the helpless. As to the sacrifices themselves, why, women during their periods and women in childbed are not afraid to touch them!
28
As you can see from these examples that they are not gods, do not be afraid of them.
29
Indeed, how can they even be called gods, when women do the offering to these gods of silver, gold and wood?
30
In their temples, the priests stay sitting down, their garments torn, heads and beard shaved and with heads uncovered;
31
they roar and shriek before their gods as people do at funeral feasts.
32
The priests take the robes of the gods to clothe their own wives and children.
33
Whether these gods are treated badly or well, they are incapable of paying back either treatment; as incapable too of making or unmaking kings,
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equally incapable of distributing wealth or money. If anyone fails to honour a vow he has made to them, they cannot call him to account.
35
They can neither save a man from death nor rescue the weak from the strong,
36
nor restore sight to the blind, nor save someone in trouble,
37
nor take pity on a widow, nor be generous to an orphan.
38
These wooden gods plated with gold and silver are about as much use as rocks cut out of the mountain side. Humiliation awaits their worshippers.
39
So how can anyone think or say that they are gods?
40
The Chaldaeans themselves do them no honour; if they find someone who is dumb and cannot speak, they present him to Bel, entreating him for the gift of speech, as if he could hear them!
41
And they are incapable of drawing the conclusion and abandoning those gods – such is their lack of commonsense.
42
Women with strings round their waists sit in the streets, burning bran like incense;
43
when one of these has been picked up by a passer-by and been to bed with him, she then twits her neighbour for not being singled out and for not having her string broken.
44
Everything going on anywhere near these gods is spurious. So how can anyone think or say that they are gods?
45
Made by woodworkers and goldsmiths, they are only what those workmen decide to make them.
46
The makers have not long to live themselves, so how can the things they make be gods?
47
Their legacy to their descendants is nothing but illusion and disappointment.
48
If war or disasters occur, the priests discuss where best to hide themselves and these gods;
49
how can anyone fail to realise that they are not gods, if they cannot save themselves from war or from disasters?
50
And since in any case they are only made of wood plated with gold or silver, it must be obvious from all this that they are spurious; and plain to everyone, to nations as to kings, that they are not gods but the work of human hands, and that there is no divine activity in them.
51
Can there be anyone still unconvinced that they are not gods?
52
They can neither appoint a king over a country, nor give rain to mankind,
53
nor regulate their own affairs, nor rescue anyone who suffers a wrong; they are as helpless as crows between sky and ground.
54
If fire falls on the temple of these wooden gods plated with gold or silver, their priests fly to safety while they for their part stay there like beams, to be burnt.
55
They cannot put up any resistance to a king or to enemies.
56
So how can anyone think or say that they are gods?
57
These wooden gods plated with gold or silver cannot evade thieves or marauders; violent men may rob them of their gold and silver and make off with the robes they are dressed in; yet they are powerless to help even themselves.
58
Better to be a king displaying his prowess, a household pot of use to its owner, than to be these false gods; or merely the door of a house, protecting what is inside, than these false gods; or a wooden pillar in a palace than these false gods.
59
The sun, the moon and the stars, which shine and have been given work to do, are obedient;
60
similarly, the lightning, as it flashes, is a fine sight; in the same way, the wind blows across every country,
61
the clouds execute the order God gives them to pass over the whole earth, and the fire, sent from above to consume mountain and forest, carries out its orders.
62
Now these gods are not their equal, either in beauty or in power.
63
So, no one can think or say that they are gods, powerless as they are to administer justice or to do men any good.
64
Therefore, knowing that they are not gods, do not be afraid of them.
65
They can neither curse nor bless kings,
66
nor produce signs in heaven for the nations, nor shine like the sun, nor shed light like the moon.
67
The animals are better off than they are, being able to make for cover and look after themselves.
68
There is not the slightest shred of evidence that they are gods; do not be afraid of them!
69
Their wooden gods plated with gold and silver are like a scarecrow in a melon patch – protecting nothing.
70
Again, their wooden gods plated with gold and silver are like a thornbush in a garden – any bird may perch on it – or like a corpse thrown into the dark.
71
From the purple and fine linen rotting on their backs you will recognise that they are not gods; and in the end, eaten away themselves, they will be a disgrace to the country.
72
Better, then, a virtuous man who has no idols; disgrace will never come near him.
Chapters of Baruch
1
2
3
4
5
6
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